DK - The American Civil War

JACKSON IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Occurring against a backdrop of Confederate

defeats elsewhere, Jackson’s victories in the

Shenandoah Valley were a major morale-

booster for the Confederacy.

JACKSON IN DEMAND

In June 1862, under the command of Robert E.

Lee, Jackson moved out of the Valley to lead a

surprise attack on the right flank of the Union

army in front of Richmond, in what would

become the Seven Days Battles 118–19 ❯❯.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNES

The Shenandoah Valley was the scene of heavy

fighting in two further campaigns in 1864

268–69 ❯❯. In the second, Union General Philip

Sheridan used scorched earth tactics

to render the Valley useless to the Confederates.

across the main road at Strasburg, but
Jackson and Ewell marched hard and
fast around his flank. They defeated a
small Union force at Front Royal on
May 22 and threatened to cut Banks’s
line of communication. As his column
raced to withdraw from Strasburg to
Winchester, the Confederates attacked.
With an extraordinary effort, Jackson’s
and Ewell’s exhausted troops continued
the fight until Winchester was taken.

Union forces diverted
President Lincoln was pushed into the
aggressive response that Confederate
strategy had desired. He diverted a
corps under Brigadier General Irvin
McDowell, previously bound for
Richmond, into the Valley to join with
Frémont and Banks in an operation
to trap and destroy Jackson’s army.
Together they would have 60,000 men
to Jackson’s 17,000. Alert to the danger,
Jackson drove his men by a series of
forced marches from the environs of

AFTER

Harpers Ferry

back through

Strasburg—just

before a Union

pincer movement

would have cut

the road—to the

only surviving

bridge across the

South Fork of the

Shenandoah River

at Port Republic. The

Confederates had

marched 140 miles (225km) in a week,

losing hundreds of stragglers along the

way. Now Jackson and Ewell turned

their forces to face their pursuers.

Two Union columns, led respectively

by Frémont and Shields, advanced on

Port Republic. They were separated by

the river, the Confederates controlling

the only bridge. Ewell’s division met

Frémont’s troops at Cross Keys on June 8

and repelled them, despite a Union

numerical advantage of almost two to

one. The following day two brigades of

Shields’s division reached Port Royal

and narrowly failed to seize the

bridge—almost capturing Jackson

as well. Jackson’s troops fought back,

forcing the Union forces to quit the

field after heavy losses on both sides.

As neither Frémont nor Shields chose

to renew the fighting, the Shenandoah

Valley Campaign came to an end.

March to Cross Keys
Artist Edwin Forbes accompanied Union troops
advancing to Cross Keys in June 1862. This sketch shows
Frémont’s troops pursuing Jackson through the woods.

The Shenandoah Valley Campaign

The feats of marching achieved by Jackson’s forces were

prodigious. In seven weeks, they marched some 650

miles (1,050km), won several small battles, and, most

importantly, kept Union troops that were needed for

the Peninsula Campaign occupied in the Valley.

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Woodstock

Strasburg

Luray

Conrad’s Store

Harrisonburg

Port

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Franklin

McDowell

Romney

Moorefield

Kernstown

Cross

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Harpers Ferry

New Market

Charlottesville

Staunton

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Swift Run

Gap

Thornton’s

Gap

FRÉMONT

JACKSON

SHIELDS

McDOWELL

MILROY

EWELL

BANKS

(^)
(^) Va
lley
(^) Pi
ke
Washington
Richmond
④ May 8: Jackson
defeats Frémont’s
advance guard
under Milroy
⑩ Jun 11: With the
Union forces in retreat,
Jackson’s men move off
to join Lee in the defence
of Richmond
⑥ May 23: Capture
of Union garrison at
Front Royal
① Mar 22: Jackson
withdraws his men to
this point as Union
forces converge on
Winchester
⑨ Jun 9: Ewell joins
Jackson to inflict
another defeat at
Port Republic
③ Mar 23:
Jackson is defeated
at Kernstown and
retreats to the south
⑧ Jun 8: Ewell
defeats part of
Frémont’s army at
Cross Keys
⑤ May 21: Jackson
is reinforced by division
under Richard Ewell
KEY
Union troop movement
Confederate troop
movement to May 21
Confederate troop
movement after May 21
Union victory
Confederate victory
⑦ May 25: Banks,
defeated at First
Winchester, retreats
to the Potomac
② Mar 22:
Jackson moves north
again to launch a
surprise counterattack
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0 miles 105
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